The calcio itch won’t be properly scratched for a few weeks yet, but there are opportunities to watch Italy’s top teams in action this summer.
Pre-season schedules vary from club to club and many of the big sides head overseas for lucrative friendlies. Others, however, remain closer to home.
So, if you’re in Italy on holiday and fancy taking in a game, we’ve picked out six of the best.
Lazio vs Ostiamare (Wednesday August 5)
This is something of a derby, owing to the fact that Ostia is just 30 kilometres from the centre of Rome. It was the Roman Empire’s port, and now the town is best known for its Lido di Ostia, with a beach of around 14km stretching along the Tyrrhenian Sea.
Ostia’s team will play in Serie C next season after 35 years in the lower echelons of the Italian pyramid. Moreover, the game with Lazio will hold an extra-special element, with the club now owned by former Roma captain Daniele De Rossi.
De Rossi, who hails from Ostia, bought the club in November 2025 and is determined to keep climbing. “Ostiamare is not a branch of any other team. We will build a young team with the best from the youth sectors,” he told La Gazzetta dello Sport.
“The goal is to follow the example of Atalanta and become a stable team like them.”
The game is due to be played at Lazio’s training base, Formello, with the mini-ground within the training complex called the Stadio Mirko Fersini, in honour of a member of the club’s staff who died in a car accident in 2012.
Tickets will be available on Lazio’s official website closer to the day of the game, so keep an eye out.
Fiorentina vs Deportivo La Coruna (Thursday August 6)
La Viola are having a busy summer with seven pre-season fixtures giving boss Fabio Grosso plenty of opportunities to fine-tune his system ahead of the new season.
After a mini-tour of England and a marquee game against Real Madrid, they fly back to Italy for their final two warm-up games against Deportivo and Modena.
The Spanish side have fallen on hard times and are a long way from the heady heights of the early 2000s, when they won LaLiga in 2000. However, the name still holds an allure and nostalgia for those of a certain vintage.
With Fiorentina’s Stadio Artemio Franchi still undergoing construction work, the game with Deportivo will be held at the stunning Viola Park on the outskirts of town. Tickets, available from €10 for adults, can be bought on Fiorentina’s official website.
If you’re in the Tuscan capital and fancy a bit of football in between admiring the Statue of David, eating Bistecca alla Fiorentina and sipping wine from nearby Chianti, then this is the game for you.
Napoli vs Celta Vigo (Saturday August 8)
Another tasty pre-season fixture between an Italian team and a Spanish side.
The game is due to take place in Castel di Sangro, where Napoli have held many of their pre-season retreats over the past decade. The 7,000-seat Stadio Teofilo Patini is the venue where Napoli boss Max Allegri will continue to cast an eye over his squad.
Celta Vigo will prove no pushovers. They were sixth in LaLiga last season, their best finish to a campaign in 10 years, and will give Allegri’s men a stern challenge.
Castel di Sangro is in the province of L’Aquila in Abruzzo, 130km from Naples. The town will be familiar to those who read Joe McGinniss’s book on Italian football in the late 1990s, The Miracle of Castel Di Sangro.
Tickets are on sale at TicketOne, from €10-€20 for either Curva, €14-€30 for the Distinti section and €25-€50 for the Tribuna.
This is arguably Napoli’s toughest summer fixture before their season kicks off against Genoa on August 22.
Frosinone vs Lazio (Sunday August 9)
No one can say Lazio aren’t keeping it local this summer. Four days after the game against Ostiamare, they travel to the outer fringes of the region to face Frosinone.
This also amounts to something of a derby, with only 50 miles separating Frosinone from the centre of Rome, and the sides will do battle in Serie A later in the year, with the same fixture taking place in mid-December.
Frosinone won promotion from Serie B last season, and their Stadio Benito Stirpe stadium is one of the more modern grounds in Italy.
Most Serie A sides are not facing rivals from the same division this summer, at least not in Italy, so this match is almost unique. With Roma spending most of their summer away from Italy, this is a chance to take in some top football while in the capital.
Tickets will be on sale via Frosinone’s official ticket seller, Vivaticket.
Parma vs Sampdoria (Sunday August 9)
Once upon a time this would have been a standout Serie A clash. Those days are long gone, with Parma finishing last season in 13th and Sampdoria again struggling in Serie B.
Yet the fixture holds a certain affection. The Stadio Ennio Tardini is one of the more intimate grounds in Italy, the absence of a running track keeping the atmosphere tight and the view great.
Parma will be looking to improve on last season, while Samp will be aiming for a better finish in the second tier, with an eye on promotion and getting back to where many feel they belong.
The modern-day iteration of this fixture lacks the sparkle of the glory days, when Roberto Mancini and David Platt would square off against Gianfranco Zola and Faustino Asprilla, but the history means this is still a game worth going to see.
Information will be on Parma’s website in the week leading up to the game.
Atalanta vs Athletic (Friday August 14)
These two will do battle in Bergamo for the second time this year after the men from Bilbao won 3-2 in their Champions League clash in January.
La Dea are keeping friendlies light this summer. They’ll have four matches before their Serie A curtain-raiser with Sassuolo on August 23, and the game against Athletic should provide the toughest test.
It’ll be another chance for new coach Maurizio Sarri to get his players to better understand his demanding tactical approach, ahead of what should be an interesting season ahead.
The New Balance Arena is one of the best stadiums in the country to visit, with the ground getting a total makeover over the past decade, and Bergamo is a city with plenty to offer.
Tickets are on sale through Atalanta’s official ticket agent Vivaticket.
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